Needle motion for axminster looms



Aug. 13, 1929. w. H. WAKEFIELD h NEEDLE MOTION FOR AXMINSTER LOOMS Filed Sept. 17, 1928 Patented Ann. lit, 191. 19.

rites ITE WALTER H. WAKEFIELD, UF "WOIl'LGliEiTZER, lllEASfilllCf-IUTWTTS, 8a KNOWLES LGOM' WORKS, 0F VJUIRONfiTER, :M.A.filS-A'gh SSIGNOR TO GRDMPTON tlEvl'il-T'JI'S, A CORPORATION OF IVIGTION FOR AXll'lIlrTiriitlEL-R LOOMIS.

Application filed September 1'7, 19%.

This invention relates to improvements for needle motions for Axminster looms and it is the general object of the invention to coinpensa'te for the stretching; of the cable customarily employed in imparting the 'wett laying and withdrawing movements to the needle.

Amninster looms which weave relatively wide fabrics custrnnarily employ a welft laying needle which is movable along a rail by means of a flexible cable such as a cotton rope, this rope being}; wound around a drum and being; connected to the carriage tor the needle which slides along the rail. ll t is found that as the loom continues to operate the rope will stretch so that althmugh the reci n'ocating movements of the drum may be correct yet the needle itself will. have greater movements than are desired because of the slackness 01 the rope. This stretching is particularly objectionable when wide Axminster looms are run at coniparat'ively high rates of speed be *ause ot' the fact that the needle iannot be made to register with the selvage shuttle on that side of the loom opposite the needle motion.

In co-ponding application Ser. No. llfifitl l filed July 1 1-, 1.925, by Robertson there is shown a slack taking-up device on the outer end of the needle rail and this device has worked satis:tactorily permitting;- a considerable increase in the rate at which the loom is run and operating to hold the needle in proper position so that it may register with the selvaee shuttle. The device ot the atore.

in said application. By the device set tortlr herein the iable moved in opposite directions so that no matter what the. slack taking-up :lnovihnents to absorb the stretch nit cable a warrior and title needle Serial No 306,4;49.

therefore the needle will be in proper po sition.

It is a ilurther object of my present invention to provide a pair of movable sheaves tor the actuating cable of an. Axminster needle which shall be o ieratively connected to move together but in opposite directions and under influence of a single weighted member.

It occasionally happens that the two strands extending from the drum to the needle carrier are of unequal lengths so that the stretchinc to which they are subject will be unequal and it is a further object of my invention to provide means for acting on each strand so that the amount of slack taken up may be proportioned to the amount occurring, thereby keeping both strands un der proper tension and the needle carrier in correct position.

Vllil'l these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement oi parts hereinafter described and set toith in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein one form of my invention showm' Fig. 1 shows the right hand end of a wide Amnii'ist-er loom. needle motion, parts being ren'ioved to permit the device to be shown more clearly,

Fig". 2 is a detail top plan view taken in the direction. of arrow 2, Fig. 1., and

Fig. 3 a detail elevation looking in the dircctioi'i ot the arrow 3 in F 1.

Referring to the drawings, the loom frame 10 has secured thereto a needle motion frame m 11 on which is pivotally mounted a gear segment 12 oscillating about a center 13 by reason of a link 11 connected to a rotating arm 15. Said segment meshes with. a pinioh. 16 mounted on shaft 17 held in bearing 18. A cable drum 19 is secured to the shaft 17 and has wrapped therearonnd two strands oil cable, the needle inserting; strand 20 extending to the left as shown in Fig. 1 and the needle withdrawing strand 21 extending to the left as shown in Fig. 1 and the needle withdrawing strand 21 extending to the right. A needle carrier 22 is slidable along the needle rail23 and has secured thereto the needle 24. the left hand end. oil "which as client it has an eye ill 1 the wet t W. One end of each of the cables is connected to the carrier.

As shown in section in Fig. 1 and in plan in Fig. 2 a selvage shuttle S moves in an arcuate groove 26 formed in a stationary frame 27 bolted as at 28 to a fixed part of the frame of the loom, such as a stand 29. A rocking shaft 30 extending through stand 29 has keyed thereto as at 31 an arm 32 having engagement with shuttle S to move the same back and forth in the arcuate groove 26. The matter thus far described is of very common construction in wide Axminster looms and forms no part of my present invention. f

The needle rail 23 has projecting upwardly from the right hand end thereof as shown in Fig. 1 a horn 33 to which is pivotally connected as at 34 a lever 35 having a hori- Zontal arm to which is attached a weight 36. Said lever 35 has a depending arm 37 provided with a pin 38 which alfords pivotal support for sheave 39 around which the strand 21 is trained. The lever 35 is also provided with an integral ratchet segment 40 which cooperates with a pawl etl, the etfe ctof said pawl being to prevent retrograde movement of the lever in a left hand direction as viewed in Fig. 1. The matter supported by the horn 33 is substantially the same as shown in the aforesaid co-pending application filed by Robertson and forms no part of my present invention.

As previously pointed out a construction of the form already described herein afi'ords satisfactory means for permitting increased speed oft the needle motion, but under certain conditions it is found necessary to move theneedle relatively to the needle carriage 22. In order to obviate this necessity I provide a second horn on the needle rail and pivot thereto as at 51 a substantially vertical lever 52 to the lower end of which is pivoted as at 53 a sheave 54: around which the needle inserting strand 20 is trained. Said lever 52 has an upwardly projecting arm 55 to which is connected the left hand end of a -connector rod 56. The right hand end of said connector rod is attached to the arm 37 by a stud 57 adjustable toward and from the center of lever 35 in slot 58.

In operation, as the strands of the cables stretch they permit the weight 36 to move the sheave 39'to the right as viewed in Fig. 1. Then this takes place the rod 56 will be placed under tension to cause a movement of lever 52 in a clockwise direction around the center 51 tomove the sheave 5 1 to the left so that the sheaves move in opposite directions. Each strand therefore has its slack taken up and for this reason the position of the needle carrier remains practically unchanged and is always in proper position relatively to the position of the oscillating geared segment 12.

The slot 58 permits adjustment of the relative movements of the sheaves so that if under certain constructions of looms the inserting strand 20 is shorter than the withdrawing strand 21 so as to be subject. to less stretching because of use and changing atmospheric conditions the amount of movement of the sheave 54 may be lessened as compared to the movements of the sheave 39. In this way the needle carriage may be kept in its proper position even though the withdrawing strand of the cable be of different length than the needle inserting strand.

By referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the sections of cable are positively connected to the drum each section being held under a clip (it) held to the drum by a bolt (ii. A knot 62 in each section causes the drum to exert a positive pull on the sections.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a needle motion for an Axminster loom wherein both the needle inserting and withdrawing strands may be kept taut by devices which change the range of movement of each strand as they stretch, to the end that the needle carrier will be properly located and thus render unnecessary any attending changes in the needle. It will further be seen that the device may be so constructed that the simultaneous movements of the sheaves may not necessarily be equal in extent but may be proportional to the amount of stretching to which the corresponding strand is subject.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and illodilicntions may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom, a needle rail, a needle carrier, an oscillating drum, a pair of flexible elements one end of each of which is connected to the drum, the other ends of said elements being connected to the needle carrier which reciprocates along the needle rail, a sheave for each element, and means to cause said sheaves to move in opposite directions when said elements become slack, whereby the needle carrier will maintain the same posi tion relatively to the rail for all adjusted positions of the sheaves.

2. In a needle motion for an Axminstcr loom, a needle rail, a needle carrier movable therealong, an oscillating drum, a pair of flexible needle actuating elements one end ol each of which is connected to the drum, the other ends of said elements being connected to the needle carrier, at sheave for each clement, a movable mounting for each sheave, a connection between said mountings to cause the same to move in unison but in opposite ditill loo

rections, and means operative upon the occurrence of slackncss in the elements to cause said mountings to move in opposite directions to take up slack in each element to maintain the same relative position between the carrier and the rail.

3. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom, a needle rail, a needle carrier movable therealong, an oscillating drum, a pair of needle actuating cables one end of each or? which is connected to the drum, the other ends of said cables beingconnected to the needle carrier, a sheave for each cable, a lever for each sheave and on which the lat ter is rotatably mounted, means to connect said levers together to cause the same to have simultaneous movements in opposite directions, and a weighted device operatively connected to one of said levers and effective upon the occurrence of slackness in the cables to move both levers through the means to take up slack in each cable and maintain the same relative position between the rail and the carrier.

4-. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom, a needle carrier, an oscillating drum, a pair of cables one end of each of which. is connected to the drum, the other ends of said cables being connected to the needle carrier, a sheave for each cable, a selvagc v shuttle to cooperate with the needle, a movable mounting for each sheave, and means to cause said mountings to have simultaneous movements in opposite directions upon the occurrence of slackness in the cables, where by said needle may be maintained in proper position relatively to the selvage shuttle.

5. In a needle motion for an Amninster loom, a needle rail, a needle carrier movable thcrealong,'an oscillating drum, a pair of cables one end of each of which is connected to the drum, the other ends of said cables being; connected to the needle carrier, a sheave for each strand, a lever for each sheave pivotally mounted with respect to the needle rail, means to cause simultaneous movements in opposite directions oi said levers when slackness occurs in the cables, and a device associated with one lever to prevent retrograde movement of both levers, whereby said levers retain their different settings.

6. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom, a needle rail, a needle carrier movable therealong, an oscillating drum, two cables one end of each of which is connected to the drum, the other ends of said cables being connected to the needle carrier, a pair of sheaves movable simultaneously in opposite directions, one sheave for each cable, and means to cause said simultaneous opposite movements of the sheaves upon the occurrence of slackness in the cables, to the end that the same relative position may be maintained between the needle and the rail for all lengths of the cables.

7. In a needle motion for an iixminster loom, a needle rail, a needle carrier movable therealong, an oscillating drum, a pair of cables, one end of each of which is connected to the drun'i, the other ends of said. cables being connected to a needle carrier, a sheave for each strand, a lever for each sheave pivoted with respect to the needle rail, a connecting means to attach the levers together to cause the same to have simultaneoils opposite movements, means to cause said simultaneous opposite movements when slackness occurs in the cables, and an adjustable connection between said connection and one of the levers, whereby the i'novements oi the sheaves in taking up slack may be made proportional to the lengths of the cables.

8. In a needle motion for an Axmlnster loom, a needle rail, a needle carrier movable along the rail, an oscillating drum, a pair of cables one end of each of which is positively connected to the drum, the other ends of said cables being connected to the needle carrier, a sheave for each strand, a lever for each sheave pivotally n'iounted with respect to the needle rail, a rod connecting said levers to have simultaneous opposite movements, and adjustable connections between one end of said rod and one of: the lovers to vary the position of the point of attachment of said rod to said lever relatively to the fulcrum oi the latter, whereby the amounts of movement of the sheaves to take up slack in the cables may be made proportional to the lengths of.

the cables.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto ai fixed my signature.

lVALTER H. VAKEFIELD. 

